Maddon: Slumping Cubs must 'push back mentally'

The Chicago Cubs don't need any additional batting practice, and they don't need to spend any more time examining their swings in the video room.

At this point, manager Joe Maddon said, the slumping Cubs - now down 2-1 in the National League Championship Series - need to exercise some mental toughness as they head into Game 4 of their best-of-seven showdown with the Los Angeles Dodgers hitting just .161 with a .547 OPS in the series.

"It's more of a mental trend than a physical trend," Maddon told FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal of his club's offensive woes following a 6-0 loss at Chavez Ravine on Tuesday. "You have to be able to push back mentally as much as anything right now. Because when it comes to work, you don’t need any more batting practice or video study or data information. You just have to mentally hang in there and keep pushing back until you get it."

Rich Hill, the Dodgers' slop-slinging left-hander, deserves full credit for slicing through Chicago's lineup in Game 3, allowing just two hits and two walks over six scoreless frames in what he called the "biggest game of (his) career." But it's not like the Cubs have had much success against lesser pitchers this postseason, either. Five Cubs regulars own an OPS below .591 this postseason. Nobody from that sordid bunch is hitting above .179.

2016 Postseason

Fowler and Heyward have been a little better over the last few games, but Rizzo, Zobrist, and Russell have been dreadful through the early stages of the NLCS, going a combined 2-for-30 (.067). Against the Dodgers, they just haven't been making enough quality contact, Maddon said.

"The last two games we've not been on the barrel of the bat at all," Maddon said. "It's pretty much been weaker contact. We've got to get back to making the hard contact. We normally hit some home runs, we draw some walks, we will strike out. We're just not hitting the ball hard like we normally do."

Still, a 2-1 deficit in a best-of-seven is hardly a death knell, even for a team that didn't finish second in the National League in runs scored (808) and OPS (.772) during the regular season. A victory in Game 4 could make all these offensive concerns moot.

"We have a very good pitcher pitching (Wednesday); so do they," Maddon said. "We're able to win that game tomorrow, and the narrative's going to change entirely. I can't get so dramatic about it."